The author—may Allah have mercy on him—then cited the verse from Sūrat al-Nisāʾ: “Worship Allah and associate nothing with Him; show excellence to parents, relatives, orphans, the poor, the neighbor who is a relative, and the distant neighbor” (4:36).
“The neighbor who is a relative” means the neighbor who is also related to you, whereas “the distant neighbor” refers to the one who lives farther away and shares no kinship with you.
The scholars state that neighbors are of three kinds:
- A Muslim neighbor who is also a relative; he is entitled to three rights: the right of neighborhood, the bond of kinship, and the bond of Islam.
- A Muslim neighbor with no kinship tie; he has two rights: the right of neighborhood and the right of Islam.
- A non-Muslim neighbor; he retains the right of neighborhood, and if he is also a relative, he gains the additional right of kinship.
Each of these neighbors has claims that must be fulfilled and claims that require one to refrain from harming them.
The author, may Allah have mercy on him, then mentioned five hadiths reported by Ibn ʿUmar, Abū Dharr, and Abū Hurayrah. In the report of Ibn ʿUmar the Prophet ﷺ said, “Gabriel kept urging me about the neighbor until I thought he would make him an heir”—that is, I expected revelation to descend making the neighbor one of the inheritors. It does not mean that Gabriel himself legislates inheritance, for legislation is not his prerogative; rather, it means that the revelation Gabriel brought might include a ruling that grants the neighbor a share of inheritance, so persistent was his counsel to the Prophet ﷺ about the neighbor.
In the hadith of Abū Dharr the Prophet ﷺ teaches that when Allah enlarges a person’s provision, he should let his neighbor have a share of it in a kind and courteous way. He said, “When you cook broth, add extra water and share it with your neighbors.” Adding water means increasing its volume so that it becomes plentiful enough to distribute among your neighbors. Broth is usually prepared with meat or other ingredients such as